


Queen of Swords

by LadyofShalott



Series: Tarot [7]
Category: Professional Wrestling, WWE, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 05:25:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11593851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyofShalott/pseuds/LadyofShalott
Summary: Whoever thought Matt Jackson would be the voice of reason?





	Queen of Swords

**Author's Note:**

> As always, while I adore these men, I don't know them. It's all fiction.

**Queen of Swords: Perceptive, independent, able to judge impartially without emotional involvement**

 

“What the fuck, Kenny? You’re hung up on Seth again?” Matt eyes him from the sofa and debates throwing something at him. “You were over him! _We_ were past that!”

“Stuff happened,” Kenny mumbles. 

“Obviously.”

“Adam wore one of his shirts and it still smelled like him and I was back on the road in Ring of Honor with him sleeping half on top of me, and I swear to god, Matt, I thought I was going to die. It felt like somebody physically reached into my chest, grabbed my heart, and ripped it out. And stomped on it.”

“Kenny. This is crazy.”

“I know.”

Matt moves over to sit on the floor in front of Kenny, because he knows how this is going to go, and he’s pretty sure Kenny isn’t going to make eye contact unless Matt forces it. Also, he figures if he’s sitting on the floor and Kenny’s above him, it’s going to feel a lot less threatening for Kenny.

“I remember when we were all working the indies exclusively,” Matt begins, looking up into Kenny’s face. “Back when all we had was each other, because you never knew who was going to fuck you over to get ahead. Even before you joined us in Ring of Honor, we were looking out for each other. Then one day Seth showed up, and he was the shyest, quietest person I think I’ve ever known in the business. He didn’t know we were doing it, but we kept an eye on him – Adam and I because he reminded us of Nick, and Nick because…well…he’s Nick. If anybody had messed with him, the three of us would have stepped in. You were right. We should have talked to him. He needed friends, not stealth bodyguards.” Matt feels a little better when Kenny nods and gives him a half smile.

“He told me he was terrified when he first started there,” Kenny confirms.

“It turns out we never needed to have his back because he just sort of faded into the background in the locker room. He didn’t mess with anybody, nobody messed with him. In the ring, though…hell, we all knew he was something special from day one. He had star written all over him. He didn’t _need_ to talk, because he did all his talking in the ring.”

“He was beautiful to watch. Still is.”

“So you’re watching him again,” Matt says without judgement. “Do you remember how the only reason you were interested in him to begin with was because he was a challenge?”

“I didn’t start talking to him because I wanted to fuck him!” Kenny objects.

“That’s not what I meant,” Matt clarifies. “When you showed up, there were dozens of guys you could have hung out with. You, though? You walked up to Seth and pretty much forced him to be your friend. You picked him because you were pretty sure it wasn’t going to be easy.”

“Nothing that’s worth it ever is.”

“I agree that he was worth it. We all loved him once we got to know him. And to be perfectly honest, we were all happy when you two got together. You hadn’t had the best luck with men or women before him, I remember, so I was thrilled that it seemed like you were with somebody who wasn’t going to treat you like crap.” He reaches up and takes Kenny’s hands in his own. “That’s why it’s killed me to have to pick up the pieces these last two times, Kenny.”

“To be fair, Seth had been hurt before, too. Multiple times.” 

Matt nods. “I know. He was my friend, too.”

“I miss him,” Kenny finally admits.

“I thought when you met Kota and you two hit it off that you might finally get over him.”

“I loved Kota, too, but it was… different, somehow.”

“That’s because you two were like a damn brush fire that went from zero to raging inferno in like five minutes and burned up everything around you.” Matt rubs gentle circles on the backs of Kenny’s hands with his thumbs, trying to keep him present in the moment. “All of us could see that you two were either going to flame out or explode. I think it would have been easier on both of you if you’d gone the ‘flame out’ route.”

“You know I don’t do anything half-assed, Matt,” Kenny jokes – and the fact that he’s able to joke eases Matt’s mind a little.

“I know,” Matt says. “And that’s why I worry about you. You leaving Seth messed with you. Kota leaving you messed with you. Sometimes it seems like you don’t really know who you are any more. That works fine for Kenny. You can use it for character development. Sometimes, though, it seems like you’ve lost Tyson, and that’s the part that concerns me.” 

“I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

“Maybe you need to be single for a while, you know? You need to find yourself again before you even think about being with anybody else, whether it’s Kota or Seth or somebody else entirely. And I don’t mean be single and wallow in misery. I mean be single and _live_ and figure out how to be happy again.”

Kenny gives him a faint smile. “And people say Nick’s the smart one,” he teases. 

Matt swats him playfully, but he knows from the look in his eyes that he’s gotten through to him. “I have my moments.” He gets up from the floor and goes to sit by Kenny.

“Love you, Matt,” Kenny says, hugging him tightly.

“Love you, too, brother.”


End file.
